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Pyongyang Proposes Resuming North-South Red Cross Talks

Last Updated: October 30, 2009 6:35 AM

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Pyongyang Proposes Resuming North-South Red Cross Talks

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North Korea has proposed a resumption of talks involving Red Cross officials from both countries.

South Korean Red Cross officials say their Northern counterparts telephoned Friday, with an offer to host a meeting later this month at the Mount Kumgang resort near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries.

The two sides have been discussing the construction of facilities at Mount Kumgang for the reunions of separated families.

The North Korean offer came two days after Seoul sent the first shipment of a promised 100,000 tons of fertilizer to the north.

The last Red Cross talks took place in July, prior to a deterioration in bilateral ties triggered by a mass defection of North Koreans to the South.